A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Sorry I didn't get around to replying to them all, I will do this time I promise :) This is the penultimate chapter in Oklahoma Part II, enjoy it!

Chapter Fifteen—Aphrodite's Gift

They'd somehow ended up in Pizza Hut for the wedding breakfast (Dick suspected it had somehow been the kids' choice, but he couldn't prove anything)—and the only person who looked a little ill-at-ease was Alfred, whom Dick thought probably wanted to clean everything.

It brought a smile to Dick's face, and it beat looking at Bruce and Diana making eyes at each other, which was frankly nauseating. Thankfully, Nick interrupted his train of nasty-thought before he could get to the harrowing-destination that he'd most likely need brain-bleach for.

"Oh, by the way, Uncle Dick?"

"Yeah, kiddo?"

Sarah slurped on her soda before answering. "Me and Nicky have decided to swap godparents, so you're now my godfather. Okay?"

He grinned bemusedly. "Uh, sure, but…why the sudden change?"

Nick looked around, but the restaurant was deserted aside from them and a teenage waiter picking his nose. "Well, since I have powers and Sarah doesn't, it makes sense that I have the meta-people as godparents."

"I guess we'll have to tell Uncle Clark when we see him as well…" Sarah mused. "I hope he doesn't think it's because I don't like him…"

Dick laughed and ruffled her blonde hair, which earned him a glower eerily reminiscent of the batglare. "Don't worry, Sarah, he won't. And I'm more than happy to be your godfather. Though I'm pretty sure whatever I could teach you, your dad already has lined up."

"Well what if I want to learn something Daddy won't teach me? Like…"

"Like?"

She looked up hopefully. "Would you teach me how to ride a motorcycle when I get old enough? A-and teach me how they work? It's just so cool!"

"Deal," he grinned, shaking her little hand.

Unfortunately he happened to have chosen a moment when Bruce wasn't completely drowning in his wife's eyes, and so heard the agreement. And although Dick had been dealing with Bruce since he was ten years old, he could probably count the number of times he'd had glares like that on one hand. And each one had made his eyes water.

Alright, no teaching the little princess to ride the bike, gotcha…

It wasn't long after that—thankfully—that their pizza arrived, coming toward them on a massive round tray, steam wafting invitingly from it. It got about six inches from the tabletop, and then, inexplicably, it stopped.

As did the waiter.

And the curls of steam dancing upward.

And the second hands of the clock on the wall.

And the traffic outside.

Puzzled and worried frowns gathered on everyone's faces, then Diana put a hand to her ear. Dick had to agree with her; whatever was going on, they had to get the kids to safety before anything. "Wonder Woman to Watchtower. Watchtower, come in!"

"They cannot hear you, Diana," a female voice said.

There was a slow burn of golden light, bringing with it probably the most beautiful woman Dick had ever seen. And that was including Diana. She had long blonde hair which flowed around her perfect face, and her flawless body was swathed only in strips of pale-

A high-heel was driven hard into the top of his foot. "Ow!"

"You're staring," his girlfriend hissed angrily.

"Oh. Sorry."

In Dick's defence, he hadn't been the only one staring: Tim couldn't take his bulging eyes off of the strange woman, and even Nick seemed to be transfixed. Bruce was glaring. Diana looked shocked and awed.

"Lady Aphrodite!"

Ah. Dick's mind automatically ran through what he knew about her, which wasn't a lot. Greek parthenon, and one of Diana's patron goddesses, which explained her referring to the princess by name. Goddess of love and desire, which explained why she was so beautiful. Indirectly responsible for the War of Troy, so potentially not to be trusted. He moved his hand toward the batarang he kept in his inside jacket pocket. Just in case.

She held up a hand when Diana made to rise. "Do not worry, Diana. I came only to wish you joy on your wedding day—and to give you my gift."

Diana smiled and squeezed her husband's fingers. "Believe me, your gift is already very much appreciated."

Aphrodite grinned at the display of affection. "Much as I would love to claim a love like this was my doing, it has not been. You found one another yourselves. It was not my efforts which resulted in your union. Though they did result in two beautiful children."

Dick glanced at Bruce; he remembered him having suspicions that Diana's gods had been involved in the twins' technically-impossible conception. There was the faintest glint of triumph in his face, but he said nothing.

"No, my gift is this: give me your hands, both of you."

Diana did so immediately, Bruce more slowly. Aphrodite closed her eyes, her arms glowing white for a moment. The light flowed down to Bruce and Diana's hands, and then appeared as two points of light above their hearts. "There. I have mated your souls."

"Then they weren't-" Diana shook her head. "Forgive me, but I assumed we were already soul-mates."

"No, but you will be from now on. It means that you will fear each other's happiness, fear, pain, excitement, joy. Time will pass the same for you."

"Wait a minute," Bruce interrupted, "are you saying that as I age, Diana will as well?"

"In a way. Not physically, but it will enable her to feel some of the aches and pains that come with your mortal age."

Diana blinked, and unexpectedly, Dick saw tears in her eyes. Was the idea that bad? She looked down for a moment, and when she spoke again, her voice was throaty with emotion. "Thank you, my lady. Thank you so much. I could wish for nothing more."

Bruce, unsurprisingly, did not feel the same way. "Princess, we need to-"

"There's nothing to talk about," she interrupted gently, kissing him softly. "It's what I want, I promise you."

"Um, Aphrodite?" Sarah's small voice spoke up.

The goddess turned to her. "Yes?"

"Can you not do that to me when I get married please? Sounds kinda creepy."

Aphrodite smiled softly, reaching out to touch the girl's cheek. "Fear not, little one," she said. "Your soul is already mated…and destined."

Before any of them could react to that, there was a golden fading light, and she was gone. They all jumped when the waiter reactivated and placed the pizza on the table. "Can I get you folks anything else?"

They arrived back at the manor a few hours' later to find a Javelin on the back lawn. As soon as they pulled up, the landing ramp came down, and two shrieking children came careering down it toward the twins. Rex and Kyra—now dancing round in a circle talking loudly and hugging Sarah and Nick lots (with cooties apparently forgotten for the time being)—were followed more sedately by their parents.

"Sorry for the invasion," Shayera shrugged. "But the kids have been crawling up the walls wanting to see your two."

"Plus you didn't give us a lot of time to get you a wedding present."

"How do-?"

"J'onn."

Bruce glared half-heartedly at his wife, who only grinned back, uncaring. "What? I was happy."

"Anyway—the present is we'll take the kids off your hands for a few hours. Deal with the ensuing sugar-rush too. That way you two can go have a really short honeymoon."

"Are you sure?" Diana asked. Those sugar-rushes could get frankly apocalyptic.

"We're sure. Plus we've always got these three to help, right?" Shayera asked, glancing at Dick, Tim and Barbara.

"Y'know, I suddenly remembered Dad's expecting me for dinner," Babs smiled nervously.

"Yeah, and I have loads of homework," Tim added, nodding vigourously. "Reams of it, in fact."

Dick checked his watch with an expression of over-exaggerated surprise. "My shift starts in like a half-hour—can I use the Javelin to get back to Bludhaven, in fact?"

"No," Bruce said flatly.

"Wow, then I really have to get going."

It was amazing how three people without super-speed—without powers at all, in fact—could disappear so quickly. Bruce edged closer to his wife; the confident expressions on John and Shayera's faces were wavering quickly, and he really wanted be out of here before they changed their minds. The kids had already raided the cookie cupboards. They had roughly eight minutes before the sugar kicked in and all four of them were locomotives.

Diana, however, was looking at Alfred, who in turn seemed to be glaring at the shuttle on his perfectly-groomed grass. The left rear wheel was right on his rhubarb patch, too, much to the old man's consternation. Considering the event that he'd waited twenty years for had occurred that afternoon, he really wasn't doing well out of today, Diana thought with a smile.

She put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll replant them together, Alfred."

"Of course, Mrs Wayne. They were half-eaten by slugs anyway."

Grinning broadly at her new title, Diana pointed out the ripening strawberries. "Those are nearly ready anyway, so at least we'll have something."

"Alas, they're nothing without Cornish clotted cream."

"Then we'll just have to import some," she smiled.

"Later," Bruce interjected, grabbing Diana's hand and all-but-dragging her onto the Javelin.

"Thank you!" she called over her shoulder to their friends.

A few seconds later, the landing ramp was retracted, and the huge craft lifted into the air. John and Shayera were left on the lawn wondering two things: one, where the hell Alfred had disappeared to in the last ten seconds, and two, what the hell they'd just let themselves in for.

From the house, there was the thunk of a football being kicked. It was followed almost immediately by the tinkling of broken glass. Then:

"Aw, Rex!"

"Wow, do we owe John and Shayera…"

Diana chuckled and kissed Bruce's bare shoulder. "We do. Hera, we do for about twenty years…" She rolled over onto her back and ran a hand which still shook from pleasure through her hair. "How do you do that…?"

He drew her closer in answer, kissed her. Diana returned it with complete and open passion—which proved that if all the rest of his body was exhausted, there was at least one muscle still functioned. Diana laughed. "You'll have to give a girl a little rest, Mr Wayne."

"Trust me, that's completely independent of me. Mrs Wayne," he added with a grin.

They smiled at one another, partly feeling like bashful teenagers, partly simply as though they had got to where they were always meant to be. "What time is it?"

"Almost eight."

"So two hours," she mused. He normally began his patrol around Gotham around ten.

"Two hours to get some sleep. You've exhausted me."

"Oh dear. Looks like that old age will be coming faster than expected," she joked.

"Being married to you? How could I expect anything less?"

"Not just me," she reminded him, poking him lightly in the side. "I imagine the children will have something to say about it." She looked down for a minute, a question in her azure eyes when she met his gaze again. "Bruce, do you want more children?"

"I don't know," he considered. "The twins are a handful as they are. Do you?"

"Yes. I want to do things…properly this time. I love Sarah and Nicholas, they're so wonderful, but…we weren't fair on them. My pregnancy we spent apart, and the first six years of their lives they didn't have a whole home—and it took such a horrific ordeal for them to get it. We should give them a younger brother or sister. One who's never known anything but happiness."

She spoke so honestly, with such open yearning in her voice and face, that there was no way in the world Bruce could ever deny her. He nodded. "Alright. We'll try for another child."

She kissed him. "Thank you."

Presently Diana gave a contented sigh and curled into his side, shutting her eyes. He wanted to follow, but somehow found himself watching her sleep. She looked completely worry-free, innocent in the same way the children were when they slept.

He sighed, put a palm gently on her flat stomach. It was quite possible they'd already conceived another child—the twins had only taken one night, after all. But was it a good idea? It was what Diana wanted, and when the baby was born, whether it was in nine months or three years, he'd love it, he knew. But they were only just married, and the kids were…well, fine. But it would be imbecilic to assume they'd stay that way. Especially Sarah. He wouldn't be surprised if she suffered from deep-seated anxiety issues for years to come, hated separation from her loved ones for the rest of her life. She probably wouldn't be going to Harvard anymore. Too far from Gotham.

The hand that wasn't curled around Diana clenched into a fist. Those bastards. How dare they take the unspoiled lives of his family and blot on their bright horizons! Today, tonight, was the only respite those sons of bitches would get from this moment on. He'd hunt them every second of their miserable lives until all of them were in jail. Very far from where they could touch anyone's children ever again. At least Gotham was quiet at the moment; it would give him a chance to make some real headway into the case. Gordon had depositions and statements; Dick had forensic evidence he'd left in the Cave. Perhaps J'onn could scan Sarah's mind and see if there was anything she herself couldn't remember. Almost instantly, he threw that thought out: Sarah had been through more than enough.

He managed to get some sleep, though not enough considering he'd spent most of the afternoon and all of the evening engaged in vigorous activity of some kind or another. Mostly naked. All naked. Considering Diana had been naked right along with him, Bruce really didn't mind. A day well-spent.

At ten p.m., the alarm went off, awakening them both instantly. They were in the Watchtower, in Batman's quarters. Bruce changed quickly while Diana gathered her clothes up from…well, all over the room.

When they were both ready, she kissed him lingeringly. "I'll see you later."

"At home?"

She nodded. "If the kids haven't levelled it with all the sugar."

"I shouldn't be too late tonight. It's pretty quiet. Joker's still inside."

"Alright. I love you."

"I love you too."

Patrol was pretty quiet for approximately fifty-five minutes. In that time, he prevented three muggings, an armed robbery and a drug deal. Then the batsignal got switched on. Commissioner Gordon was looking even more world-weary than normal when he arrived silently on the roof, on the opposite side from which Jim was looking.

"What is it?"

"Escape from Arkham."

"Joker?"

"Yeah. Last reports had him heading east into the financial district with an RPG, a gas tanker and several M16s."

"Possible target is the Gilbert building then." Though not a bank per se, the Gilbert Corporation was a safety deposit bank, which happened to contain most of the diamonds in Gotham, as well as gold bars, treasure and whatever else was valuable to the richest citizens.

Gordon nodded thoughtfully. There were other potential targets as well, but the Gilbert building seemed the most probable location. Gordon looked down to take a sip of his coffee, and Batman made sure he was gone by the time he looked up again. The financial district was at the other end of the city, so the fastest way to get there was the Batmobile. Batman raced through the city, arriving just as the Joker and his crew were going in. As soon as the sound of the engines reached them, a grenade was fired in his direction. The motion-seeking laser cannons on the front of the car swatted it from the air more than twenty metres from the car, following it with another burst that then destroyed the RPG itself.

That gone, the thugs opened fire on the car with their machine-guns, which resulted in nothing more than some harmless sparks against the heavily-armoured Batmobile. Batman, meanwhile, was no longer in the car. The criminals had no idea of that until a huge Bat-shaped shadow began landing on them, one by one. Head's were smashed against walls, shoulders dislocated and wrists broken until there was only one man left standing, still firing at an empty car. He quickly ran out of bullets, and didn't take long to realise that the only sound was his own breathing.

He turned with a gasp. "Oh shi-"

He didn't get to the end of his sentence.

Batman made his way into the building, activating the cowl's night-vision to ensure he didn't step over any trip-wires or activate any boobytraps. There were six on the way from reception to the vault, and a terrified security guard who raised a wavering hand to point him in the direction the Joker had gone.

There were a few vault doors open, but not many. Batman's arrival had meant that the Joker couldn't get everything he'd been after. There was no sign of the clown, but the back door fire exit was open, and there was familiar—very unwelcome—laughter echoing back at him.

Batman gave chase into the backstreets and alleyways. There was no way Joker could outrun him, but he could have allies or hideaways somewhere near.

The sound of gunshots made him increase his pace. The shots weren't being fired at him, though, they-

He hurtled around a corner to find a dead-ended alley. At the end of it were two figures. One was the Joker—a surprisingly small, crumpled figure at the feet of the second.

The woman had her back to Bruce, and was stood about four feet from the Joker. She wore a long black cloak, a hood that cast her face into deep shadow. There seemed no markings on her clothing. She was firing a gun directly into the Joker's chest. Six shots in the chamber, and all six of them went into the clown prince's heart.

Bruce knew he should be stopping it, but he found himself unable to move. It was too late anyway. The gun was empty. The woman threw it to the ground. Then she turned around. Her breathing was the only sound in the silent alley, and it was harsh, erratic.

He took in the hood again, the cloak. She wasn't wearing gloves, but- "Andrea?"

She stiffened at the sight of him, then almost immediately slumped. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Then, quite literally, she vanished.

A/N: Review please!